Synopsis
Veteran buttoned-down LAPD detective Roger Murtaugh is partnered with unhinged cop Martin Riggs, who -- distraught after his wife's death -- has a death wish and takes unnecessary risks with criminals at every turn. The odd couple embark on their first homicide investigation as partners, involving a young woman known to Murtaugh with ties to a drug and prostitution ring.
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Cast
- Mel GibsonMartin Riggs
- Danny GloverRoger Murtaugh
- Gary BuseyMr. Joshua
- Mitchell RyanGeneral Peter McAllister
- Tom AtkinsMichael Hunsaker
- Darlene LoveTrish Murtaugh
- Traci WolfeRianne Murtaugh
- Jackie SwansonAmanda Hunsaker
- Damon HinesNick Murtaugh
- Ebonie SmithCarrie Murtaugh
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
In a movie with the energy of this one, we're exhilarated by the sheer freedom of movement; the violence becomes surrealistic and less important than the movie's underlying energy level. - 90
Washington Post
After watching Gibson and Glover grow accustomed to each other, develop trust and confidence in each other and charge bullheadedly into dangerous situations, you can't help but hope there's a "Lethal Weapon II." It would be one of the few times a sequel would make sense and dollars. - 88
TV Guide Magazine
Gibson is truly frightening as the cop about to go into orbit, and Glover is a standout as the down-to-earth lawman with very much to lose. - 80
The New York Times
The film is all fast action, noisy stunts and huge, often unflattering close-ups, but it packs an undeniable wallop. - 80
Empire
The pace never slows, the jokes never miss and the stunts never disappoint in this macho-dream of an actioner. - 70
Variety
Lethal Weapon is a film teetering on the brink of absurdity when it gets serious, but thanks to its unrelenting energy and insistent drive, it never quite falls. - 63
Boston Globe
The skies are thick with whizzing bullets and strings being pulled by Shane Black's crude script and Richard Donner's cement-mixer direction. Predictably, the chicks-and-ammo stuff is punctuated by TV cop show repartee. [6 Mar 1987, p.36] - 50
Los Angeles Times
At bottom, Lethal Weapon isn't much. It's a big, shallow, flashy, buddy-buddy cop thriller; it attacks you like a stereophonic steamroller, flattening everything behind it. Snatches of "Hustle" "Magnum Force" and "48 HRS." float above this plot like scum on a polluted lake, and the holes in logic and mindless climax are (or should be) embarrassing. [6 Mar 1987, p.4]
